Coal and Coke Era

What
is Coke?

Coke
is a high-grade, high temperature fuel used in firing steel
blast furnaces. Coal is made into coke by burning it under
controlled conditions where very little air (oxygen) is available,
yeilding a product that is almost entirely pure carbon. Coke
ovens provide the controlled conditions required to transform
coal into coke. In this area, beehive coke ovens, so
called for their shape, were the norm. From an era gone by,
beehive ovens also produced vast amounts of smoke and pollution
which would never be tolerated today.

Vast coal deposits underlying much of Fayette County resulted in
the development of a monolithic coal and coke industry internationally
unrivaled around the turn of the 20th century. Prior to the 1870s
coal and coke extraction had been undertaken on a small, experimental
scale. Between 1876 and 1882 the number of beehive coke ovens, however,
multiplied from 3000 to 8400 and by 1907, 23,857 coke ovens were
operating in the Connellsville coke region.

Because of an increased need for labor, thousands of immigrants,
particularly of eastern European extraction, relocated to Fayette
County. As a result, numerous "patch town" communities
were established by the coal companies to house the new labor group.
Located adjacent to the coal mines and coke works, these patch duplexes
or "company houses" characterized pockets of homogenous
and blatantly functional frame dwellings which were unique to western
Pennsylvania.

In direct contrast to the simplicity of lifestyle and material
possessions of the immigrant workers was the opulence and grandeur
which often surrounded the industrial magnates who directly profited
from the coal and coke investments. The most notable examples include
the J. V. Thompson "Oak
Hill" estate. and the palatial Linden
Hall constructed for Sarah B. Cochran. Other coal related businesses
and residences became centralized in Uniontown , Connellsville ,
and Dawson.

The marked upsurge in coal and coke production of the late 19th
century dictated the need for an efficient transportation system
to ship the coal products to steel manufacturers in Pittsburgh and
other cities. In 1881 the Pittsburgh, Virginia and Charleston Railroad
opened a line between Pittsburgh and West Brownsville. It provided
Brownsville and Bridgeport with valuable rail connections to outside
markets. Subsequently, a network of interconnecting rail lines,
particularly under the proprietorship of the Pennsylvania Railroad
were opened throughout the county. Many of the lines terminated
at Connellsville which ultimately became the major transportation
center for the Connellsville Coke Region.

As the county evolved from a basically agrarian economy toward
predominately heavy industry, improvements in human transportation
followed. Trolley systems were introduced as early as 1890 in Uniontown
and soon thereafter lines connected many of the communities within
the county. Interurban rail transportation was also increased. Improvements
in transportation also meant more modern bridge designs such as
the enduring stone arches constructed by the Monongahela Railway
(15) and the introduction of steel truss brides which spanned many
of the county's waterways.

However, the beginning of the end was at hand. Violent Labor disputes
of the 1920s, the Great Depression, and diminishing coal resources
forced a continuing decline in the local coal and coke industry.
This resulted in an economic backlash from which the county has
never fully recovered.

The era of coal and coke in the Connellsville Coke Region is commemorated
at the Coal & Coke
Heritage Center located at Penn State's Fayette Campus north
of Uniontown.